Ivan Stone Roberts BA (Hons) Fine Art 2020

The dining room is the stadium where the action happens.The ‘everyday’ is the subject that I am most interested in exploring within my work as I try to make sense of the curious nature of the mundane. I am interested in collecting the contrasting imagery that I pass-by in my daily life, and documenting it through painting, drawing and installation.The prevalent character of functional objects is explored throughout my work and how, when seen from a more aesthetic perspective, their inherent purpose changes and they become congenial. There is also often a sense of uneasy verisimilitude within my work; there is a deliberate un-surety of where the ordinary day-to-day life of the artist ends and the art begins. This can be seen to happen as the ‘trash’ in my studio often seeps its way into the installations - accompanying my paintings, as a backdrop to the performances and as important characters in themselves in my movies. I allow my work to take journeys and not simply stagnate in one time. I achieve this by consciously having my art in a constant state of flux; it is fluid and persistently transforming. My subjects are reused and recycled throughout different pieces; paintings recycle appropriated imagery and are distorted over time - and in extreme cases becoming clothing. My studio has felt like a living organism throughout the year, relentlessly changing shape and ambience. Performance encircles my work. Interaction with materials and spaces creates a sense of connection between the viewer, the work, the artist and the outside world. I see it as my role as an artist in this strange present day to dwell upon and worry about my surroundings. It is the source of my own anxieties, and that of other peoples.